Booking.com to axe 25 per cent of workforce

Picture of a sign with the logo of Booking.com taken in front of their headquarters for Canada in Toronto, Ontario. Booking is a travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine for lodging reservations

Booking Holdings has announced plans to reduce Booking.com’s global headcount by a quarter as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the online travel agency.

According to a regulatory filing earlier this week, Booking Holdings said Booking.com was in the process of consulting with work councils, employee representatives and other relevant organisations regarding the intended staff reduction and related cost reduction restructuring actions.

Booking Holdings said it expects to develop more clarity on the timing, the number of affected employees, the financial impact and other aspects of the contemplated cost reduction actions as a result of these consultations.

“The company expects to finalise its plans and make relevant announcements to employees on a country by country basis, with the first countries starting in September 2020, and expects to complete all such announcements by the end of 2020,” it said in the filing.

Booking.com is not the only business Booking Holdings has made cuts to as a result of the coronavirus chaos, with Kayak and OpenTable having laid off, furloughed or handed out reduced hours to at least 400 of their employees earlier this year.

The online travel giant is set to reveal its second-quarter earnings later this week.


Featured image source: iStock/BalkansCat

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